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Five Major Perspectives Used to Research Child Development

In: Philosophy and Psychology

Submitted By Josephine83
Words 2487
Pages 10
Several theories have been developed from the five major perspectives used to research child development. These perspectives include psychoanalytic, learning, cognitive, contextual, and evolutionary/sociobiological perspectives (Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2008). Researchers use theories to explain child development. The theories are important because they propose ideas or explanations to describe development and to predict kinds of behaviors. In this paper, I will discuss and describe three theories of development, their key concepts, their similarities, their differences, how the domains of development influence each other, and how understanding development helps those who work with developing children.
Three Theories of Development:
Some important theories of child development include Freud’s psychosexual theory, Erickson’s psychosocial theory, and Piaget’s cognitive-stage theory. “Sigmund Freud believed that people are born with biological drives that must be redirected to make it possible to live in society” (Papalia et. al, 2008). He proposed that development happens throughout five stages in a child’s life. The first stage is referred to as the oral stage. It occurs between birth and 18 months. During this stage, the baby’s chief source of pleasure involves mouth-oriented activities (Papalia et. al, 2008). The second stage is referred to as the anal stage. It occurs between one year and three years of age. During this stage, the child derives sensual gratification from withholding and expelling feces (Papalia et. al, 2008). The third stage is referred to as the phallic stage. This stage occurs between three to six years of age. During this stage, the child becomes attached to parent of the other sex and later identifies with same-sex parent (Papalia et. al, 2008). The fourth stage is called the latency stage. It occurs between six years and puberty. This stage

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